Crossrail

Crossrail celebrates its top-performing apprentices

The Houses of Parliament were the impressive setting for the Crossrail Apprentice of the Year awards.

A former self-employed labourer who was struggling to find work during the difficult economic times won the main prize at the ceremony yesterday.

Rudy Nieddu, 28, from Forest Hill, works at Crossrail’s Whitechapel site as an apprentice civil engineering technician with Balfour Beatty.

He was presented with his award by Crossrail chair Terry Morgan in front of more than 100 guests, including Lord Deighton, commercial secretary to the Treasury.

The other award winners were:

• Construction Apprentice of the Year (General): Chloe Etheridge, Farringdon station

• Construction Apprentice of the Year (Tunnelling): Rudy Nieddu

• Corporate / Business Services Apprentice of the Year: Ben Khan, Whitechapel and Liverpool Street Station Tunnels

• Apprenticeship Champion of the Year: Elaine Alderton, Farringdon station

• Apprenticeship Employer of the Year: Laing O’Rourke, Liverpool Street Station, Tottenham Court Road and Custom House sites. 

Nieddu said: “I’m stunned. It was one thing just to be nominated but to go on and win is rather special. I’d been self-employed as an electrical labourer before and there were times when the work just wasn’t there so you don’t get paid. This role has given me stability and allows me to start planning ahead.”

Morgan added: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to Rudy and all of our nominated apprentices.

“Crossrail has achieved significant success in providing opportunities for young people and we want to set an example for the sector to follow. Many of Crossrail’s apprentices have experienced unemployment, but now are gaining skills that can set them up for life. I started my career as an apprentice, I wasn’t particularly studious at school and now several decades later, it is a pleasure to be recognising the efforts of the new generation of apprentices.”

More than 280 apprentices are working on Crossrail and the project is on track to deliver its target of at least 400 apprenticeships during the construction of the new railway.

Many of Crossrail’s apprentices have trained at the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA) at Ilford (pictured below), which opened in 2011 and is the only training academy of its type in Europe.

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